Mailbag: Media mischaracterized protest scene outside of Trump rally

Media mischaracterized protest scene outside of Trump rally

It’s too bad that so much “news” was focused on the few rowdies. Virtually all the media visuals I’ve seen have ignored the huge turnout that was peaceful and nonviolent. Instead, we see closeups of the contorted faces of a handful of demonstrators and the busted police car.

A more-honest report would have been an aerial photo of the packed amphitheater with the thousands peacefully in line outside the theater. A caption for the photo could say, “This is what a peaceful revolution looks like.”

I was there. I arrived, with tickets, around 4:30 p.m. to a rapidly filling parking lot and a long line of Trumpians waiting to get into the theater.

I stood in line for about 90 minutes. Around 6:05 p.m., the doors were closed.

Sold out, they said, and many hundreds of us were locked out even though we had “tickets.” Some of us simply milled around, looking at the scenery and the show of force put on by the 300 cops, including 12 mounted police. And gritting our teeth over the abrasive whump, whump, whump of the helicopters constantly overhead. The noise of the choppers was actually the most irritating part of the experience. (This was in a residential neighborhood, by the way.)

While we’re standing in line, people chatted among themselves about all manner of things, not necessarily politics. Some of the “demonstrators,” with their provocative signs, tried to generate some excitement by waving them in our faces. Nobody responded. Everybody just grinned, accepting it as part of the atmosphere.

There was no provision for an overflow crowd. No loudspeakers or audio for us to know what was happening in the stadium. But we could hear cheers and applause. There was also no provision for gastronomic needs, although there were porta potties and the one restroom was open.

The rowdies who got their pictures in the paper were professionals. As soon as the media cameras were rolling, the rowdies knew when to run up to the photographer and do their “act.”

I suspect the cops, the media and the demonstrators all come from Central Casting, paid to show up and put on a show to fool the voters into thinking something serious is going on.

The fracas that happened at Fair Drive and Fairview Street was because a phalanx of riot police, including mounted police, pushed the demonstrators off the fairgrounds, out toward the intersection, where the police car got its windows smashed.

Thus, although “force,” in the sense of head-busting with billy clubs, did not take place, the police did use the “force” of a slow-walk maneuver that forced the demonstrators off the fairgrounds out into the street. The street was filled with traffic of people trying to drive home. The vast majority of the “civilians” on the scene were either passive observers or would-be attendees like myself who were blocked out of the amphitheater. I got bored and came home at 8:30 p.m.

Yes, Virginia, there is a rebellion taking place. It’s in the hearts and minds of the grownups who are sick and tired of a lying, taxing, over-regulating state that steals our property and our liberties. That’s why Trump surged into the lead the first time he appeared in the TV debates, and he’s only gotten more popular since.

The producers of this nation’s wealth are fed up with being forced to support the deadbeat bureaucrats, the ruling elites, the endless wars, and the professional welfare clients.

The reigning “progressive” political class is being purged for the catastrophes they have brought us for the last 100 years — since 1913. It’s about time!

Don Hull

Costa Mesa

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Trump offers a conundrum for loyal Republicans

On May 3, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus declared Donald Trump as the “presumptive nominee” for the GOP.

Mr. Priebus could have also declared the death, or at least mortal wounding, of the Republican Party establishment. With his declaration, the air was let out of the short-lived and somewhat disorganized “anyone but Trump” movement.

Mr. Trump’s ascendancy to the nomination is surprising to a number of Republicans, and possibly to the candidate himself. Politicians gain supporters by at times appealing to the best of us, while at other times appealing to the fear in us. Mr. Trump has been nothing short of brilliant in his ability to harness the anger and fear that bubbles under the surface of Republicans, independents and Democrats.

Fear, it would seem, unites, at least temporarily. The Great Recession, combined with rapidly changing societal norms, has left many people feeling uneasy, however, the current climate of political correctness has left these same people without a voice. Fear that any speech in opposition to change may lead to their being shunned or ridiculed by family, friends and co-workers.

Mr. Trump’s financial background has afforded him the ability to speak freely, and at times stupidly. But even his less-than-desirable comments are appealing to his supporters because he is not afraid to speak his mind. In Mr. Trump his supporters see themselves.

As his campaign shifts from the primary to the general, Mr. Trump must pivot his focus and message to the large number of Republican voters who supported his opponents, while not losing his core supporters. This pivot is no easy task, and may not be possible, even for someone as talented at self-promotion as Mr. Trump. Wounds are raw and doubts are high.

Longtime, loyal Republicans are openly wondering whether the Republican Party they have supported for years has left them behind. The question weighing on many minds is whether to vote for Hillary Clinton, Trump or none of the above.

I, like many of my friends and colleagues, will be following Mr. Trump closely in the coming weeks to attempt to answer this very important question.

Michael Torres

Corona del Mar